ASHEVILLE – The four Democrats who represent Buncombe County in the state General Assembly all filed for re-election Monday, saying they hope to continue work already begun and to have more impact in the 2019 legislative session and beyond.

Democrats across the state say the odds favor them this election year. They hope at a minimum to gain enough seats in the House or Senate or both to be able to sustain vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and possibly to take control of the state House or Senate or both.

Filing on the first day of the filing period were:

--Rep. John Ager, a Fairview land manager seeking his third term. He represents a district that takes in Alexander, Weaverville, Barnardsville, Black Mountain and Fairview.

--Rep. Susan Fisher, an Asheville resident seeking her eighth full term. Her district takes in most of Asheville.

--Sen. Terry Van Duyn, a Biltmore Forest resident and retired systems analyst seeking her third term. Her district takes in most of Buncombe County except for several communities along the north side of the Henderson County line.

None of the four has an announced opponent so far and Monday was the first official word that each would seek another term. Filing ends Feb. 28. Turner's district votes Republican in most races, Ager's is roughly evenly divided while Fisher and Van Duyn's districts are strongly Democratic

Rep. John Ager(Photo: Courtesy N.C. House)

Ager said he would focus on dealing with climate change, income inequality, opioid abuse and "rolling back the gerrymandering," referring to districts drawn to benefit one political party or the other.

State government has not done enough to deal with those and other major problems in the state, he said.

Ager, Fisher and Van Duyn said restoring balance to decisions now made by the legislature's Republican majority with little input from Democrats would be a big priority.

Rep. Susan Fisher(Photo: Courtesy N.C. General Assembly)

If there are enough Democrats in the legislature to sustain a Republican veto, "it would force people to have a conversation" that would include both parties, Fisher said. Today, "It's a little too lopsided," she said.

Van Duyn said Republican legislators spent much of the first three months of the 2017 session in closed-door caucuses working out their positions on legislation. The result was proposals that were drafted "in a bubble" that did not take outside input into account, she said.

Rep. Brian Turner(Photo: Courtesy N.C. General Assembly)

Turner said he would continue to push for more funding for school social workers and nurses to deal with an array of problems he hears about when he visits schools in his district and wants to keep that work going. He has also worked on issues related to domestic violence and opioid abuse.

Sen. Terry Van Duyn(Photo: Courtesy N.C. General Assembly)

Van Duyn said a big priority would be to "get our schools properly funded. That includes pre-K and community college and university" as well as K-12 schools. Others include economic development and environmental protection.

Sen. Chuck Edwards, R-Henderson, represents the portion of Buncombe County that is not in Van Duyn's district, including Arden, Avery's Creek, Bent Creek and Upper Hominy. He has already announced he will seek his second full term and has opposition from Norm Bossert, a retired educator and Democrat from Transylvania County.

The current party split in the state Senate is 35 Republicans to 15 Democrats and 75 Republicans to 45 Democrats in the House. Democrats would have to pick up six seats in the Senate or four in the House to have enough votes to sustain Cooper vetoes.